You may remember some time ago I posted the Inverarity School of Literary Analysis. (Over a year ago!)
In that time, my literary tastes have changed considerably - it's hard to believe I was citing Neil Gaiman and Larry Niven as my favorite authors. And books that I was once "blown away" by now provoke a "meh."
Also until recently, I was pretty much a textbook case of "Sci-fi/fantasy nerd who rarely reads anything else." Occasionally I'd branch out into mysteries, having a fondness for Tony Hillerman.
So a little confession: the fact is, it's only in the past couple of years that I have resumed a serious and steady habit of reading a variety of books - prior to that, I'd actually spent quite a few years reading relatively little compared to when I was a teen. It's a little embarrassing, as I've always thought of myself as a "heavy reader," but sometimes life pulls you into a rut. When I was a teenager, I wrote a lot and wanted to be a writer, and then I spent a lot of years not writing, and then I wrote a little and made some money at it but didn't really pursue it, and now suddenly I'm writing as my primary hobby. (But it's still just a hobby, until I actually get something published, which may be never.)
I don't want to say that Harry Potter and fan fiction suddenly turned me on to reading and writing again, but Harry Potter and fan fiction suddenly turned me on to reading and writing again.
I feel so... fourteen when I say that.
Anyway, last year, I read over 80 books. This year I've already read more than 60.
For the ten years prior to that, I averaged maybe ten books a year. There are some years when I read less than six.
So, moral for you young'uns - you'd be amazed how easy it is for your favorite things to drop out of your life because you are distracted by other things. And if you really want to write, keep writing! Also, read widely and get your ass out of the YA or SF&F aisles now and then.
Anyway, I (obviously) did not keep trying to assign compartmentalized numerical ratings in my book reviews (my book review style has also evolved in the last year), but I still say most readers are most attracted to Story, Character, or Style. And I have rehashed this theory with a new poll over on

Warning: Bad Words Ahead!
Speaking of goddamn motherfucking piss-me-right-the-fuck-off SPAM...
"But I can't vote because I don't have an LJ account!" you say.
Yeah, about that.
LJ spam is getting really, really fucking annoying. Every morning I can count on a couple more anonyfuckbagshitsuckingdouchenozzles posting links to some Russian site selling watches or porn or whatever that I have to delete. (Can you tell that I find spam really really fucking annoying?)
And because of that, LJ has implemented automatic screening for pretty much all anonymous comments. (Which doesn't stop all the spammers, as they auto-register with dummy accounts just to spam with.) Which means all of you people who post anonymously, as you know, I have to manually unscreen your comments before they appear. (A couple of times I've almost hit the "delete" button on accident instead -- as far as I know, I have not yet actually done this.)
Yes, yes, it's only a few seconds of my time, each and every time, but it's a small, persistent, repetitive, daily annoyance that is adding up to the wearing-on-my-last-fucking-nerve factor. I am approaching that point at which I decide that the inconvenience to me to keep dealing with this is greater than the inconvenience to you anons to, you know, invest in a one-time expenditure of sixty seconds of your time to create a free LiveJournal account.
So, consider this a plea for you anons who are regular posters to seriously consider doing so. No, I am not turning off anonymous comments -- yet. I may just keep gritting my teeth. Unless the spam gets worse or I have a really bad day and my last fucking nerve snaps.
Please to keep in mind, besides a LiveJournal account, LJ also lets you post from Facebook, Wordpress, and any other network with OpenID. So think about it. I know you're probably like me and you already have a zillion different accounts and logins and even if you already have a Facebook account you don't want to use your "real" identity to post on LiveJournal or whatever, and I get that, so I understand the reticence to create yet another online identity just to post on one blog with.
But if you are not absolutely dead-set against it, then think about it, before the spammers wear out my last fucking nerve, 'kay?